In the shipping, storing, and dispensing of chemicals many problems are encountered. The chemicals themselves are often highly regulated and/or corrosive and must be handled carefully. Spillage in particular, must be avoided in order to prevent damage to property and injury to people. Accordingly, the drums in which the chemicals are shipped must be tightly sealed.
The careful shipping and storing of chemicals is oftentimes at odds with the necessity of easy accessibility for dispensing the chemicals for their final use. That is, if the drums are tightly sealed, considerable effort, time, and expense must often be expended to open the drum, insert an acceptable dispensing device, and eventually reseal the drum. Needless to say, it would be highly desirable to have a drum and dispenser which can be used to ship and store chemicals and yet easily and safely dispense them.
After a drum has been emptied of its chemical, it is usually necessary to remove the dispensing device, carefully clean the drum according to proper safety regulations in order not to harm the user or environment, reseal the drum, and dispose of the drum in a proper way that does not harm the environment. This process has substantial disadvantages. In particular, the proper cleaning of the drums and dispensing device is oftentimes beyond the capabilities of the end user. The cleaning chemicals and equipment may not be readily available and a place to dispose of the drums is usually difficult to find. The cleaning and disposal procedure is also time-consuming and expensive.
An additional problem that the end user has occurs when disconnecting tubing from a drum after the chemical has been emptied. Chemical in the disconnected tubing has a tendency to leak out. Although small amounts of chemicals are involved, such chemicals may be hazardous and, at best, the loss of such chemicals is wasteful.
This invention provides a solution to the above-noted problems. In particular, it provides a dispensing device for use with a standard drum so that shipping, storage, and dispensing of chemicals, as well as the resealing of the drums, may be safely and efficiently carried out. The dispensing device is designed to be placed in the drum at the factory and remains there during shipment, storage, dispensing of the chemical, and return of the drums. That is, this invention includes a device which alternately may be used to seal a chemical drum, dispense the chemicals inside and then reseal the drum. Accordingly, the present device may be easily resealed and left with the drum, and returned to the manufacturer, where it may be cleaned and reused.
The present invention further includes an adapter on the top of the drum that may be tightly sealed with a cap or, alternately, connected to a quick-connect valve for dispensing the chemical. The adapter is operatively attached to tubing which leads to a foot valve inside and at the bottom of the drum. The quick-connect valve fitting is so designed that it is only open when connected with the adapter which is connected to the drum. When removed from the adapter, it automatically closes the line and stops any residual drainage from the line.
As particularly noted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,344 to Hestehave et al., other dispensing devices have had relatively complex designs which have required that they be inserted and removed each time the drum is reused. As particularly noted therein, the dispensing means is not adapted to stay with the drum during shipment and storage. This is the type of device which needs repeated cleaning and presents an unnecessarily hazardous step in the use of the chemicals.